Democratic primary upset in Pittsburgh signals party shift to center

(The Center Square) – Tuesday’s Democratic primaries proved to be a referendum on Ed Gainey’s leadership in his first term as mayor of Pittsburgh.

The incumbent failed to convince voters that more time would help him usher a vision of a revitalized Pittsburgh into reality, and he was unseated by Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor.

The victory means O’Connor is on track to win the general election, with Democrats holding the position for most of the last century. Tony Moreno, a former police detective, took the Republican nomination.

O’Connor, the son of a mayor himself, poured sizable contributions, particularly from developers, into advertisements critical of Gainey’s performance in the role. He promised a business-friendly strategy through investments in housing and public safety.

It was enough. Just as Gainey had four years earlier in his bid to become the first Black mayor of Pittsburgh, O’Connor achieved the rare feat of unseating an incumbent.

“At the end of the day, you and I know both that I am a mayor of change. I am a mayor that wants to see a city for all. I am a mayor that wants to make sure that we have affordable housing and that we have everything that we need,” Gainey told the city’s CBS affiliate. “It wasn’t a popular message, but it was a populist message.”

The mayor represents the city’s growing progressive political flank whose staying power is being tested both externally by Republicans and internally by Democrats who lean closer to the center. Whether the promised changes are too slow or they go too far, the results indicate impatience with the shift.

Gainey’s plan to strengthen the city saw some measurable success, including one percent growth last year per the U.S. Census Bureau and increasing affordable housing by 1,600 units.

Aims to press the city’s massive network of real estate owned by non-profit organizations like UPMC for tax revenue fell short of some people’s hopes. The entities create large vacuums in which neighborhoods struggle to make up the money they need from property taxes.

Alternatively, O’Connor’s plans to invest money in business and policing have garnered support from the right, which has sought more emphasis on public safety, as evidenced by law-and-order Republican candidate Moreno.

O’Connor’s platform includes a clean-up plan in each of the city’s 90 neighborhoods and changes to the zoning laws he says would facilitate the creation of more affordable housing. He also hopes to take a fresh look at the city’s budget, which he says is “sleepwalking toward a financial disaster” if left to run as it has with pandemic-era funding dwindling and looming federal cuts.

Some on the left worry that the same developers who bankrolled O’Connor’s campaign will benefit most from his win, with advantages from new development unlikely to reach the city’s most vulnerable.

The Democratic nominee will now have to work to build esteem with Gainey’s supporters and to shape a unified future for the Democratic party.

“To me, it starts fresh. Tomorrow starts a whole new election in the fall, and we’re going to need everybody to take that message of growth and opportunity to our fall election,” said O’Connor.

Christina Lengyel is a Pennsylvania reporter for The Center Square. She is based in Harrisburg.

This article was republished with permission from The Center Square.